Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Guess who just called me back?

I just received a call from the Office Manager at our Pediatrician's office. She started our conversation by telling me she understood exactly how I felt yesterday. She would have been just as mad if the same thing had happened to her.

The policy of all calls with stomach complaints going to the Triage Nurse, was to help weed out any child that might have a case that was an emergency, such as appendicitis. Where the Triage Nurse would know exactly what questions to ask the parent, and could recommend the ER, if a trip to the doctors office was not warranted. The O.M. was not aware that it was taking up to two hours for calls to be returned. Her exact words were, "In two hours, a lot can happen, this was not our intention of starting this policy. It was to return the parents call within minutes, not hours."

She stated that she had several of the Doctors listen to my message and they agreed that the policy needed to be changed. If a parent calls and wants to make an appointment, an appointment will be made. They will also make sure they are fully staffed with nurses during the hours with the heaviest call volumes, to cover the Triage Nurse Line.